Oscillating safety razor



INVENTOR. E. LA CELL :4 PL

ATTORNEY.

Nov. 10, 1942. G E. LA CELL OSCILLATING SAFETY RAZOR Filed May 29, 1939D .l a 2 iflZZ 2 1 w a 2 "W 4 Z 0 m m 1 Z a i I 57 M8 8 76 4 23 Q 5 i 4mm e W i u i i Z 5 m 5 5 w n w a 5 U z 4 a I E 4 zm wz I 5 1 0 e 3 2 /2Id 3 w 5 M M 2 5 z 3 TI/O 1 w 3 3 BY GEORGE lgl.

Patented Nov. 10, 1942 UNlTED STATES} PATENT OFFICE 2,301,552OSCHJLATING SAFETY RAZOR George E. La Cell, Santa Rosa, Calif.Application May 29, 1939, Serial No. 276,361

4 Claims.

M-y'inventionrelates to improvements in an oscillating safety razor, andit consists of the combinations; constructions and arrangementshereinafter described and claimed.

Anobject of my invention is to provide an oscillating safety razor inwhich a safety razor assembly is directly connected to a motor casing insuch a' manner that the rotation of the motor shaft will cause thesafety razor head and blade to oscillate as a unit and with respect tocasing. It is'possiole to cause the razor head to osciliate-by' avibrator instead oi a motor, but a vibrator generally is not powerfulenough to ope-rate the device. A motor provides sufrlcient force tocause the'safety razor to continuously oscillate in the direction ofthelength of the blade during the time the blade actually contacts with theface. The head of the safety razor may be removed to permit the removalof the blade for cleaning purposes or for substituting a new blade.Novel means is provided for quickly attaching the head to the safetyrazor after the blade has been placed in position.

I provide a water-tight joint between the oscillating razor blade headand the base which is attached to themotor casing. This permits therazor-head to be cleaned with water without damaging the working parts.The device is extremelyslmple in construction and is durable andenlcient for the purpose intended. use a razor blade for a much longertime than is customary because the blade will out more effectively whenit is oscillated than where the blade is merely moved over the face.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification,and the novel features of the device will be particularly pointed out inthe appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing iormin a part ofthis application, in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the safety razor head shown operativelyapplied to a motor casing;

Figure 2 is a vertical section through the device, showing a part of themotor casing;

Figure 3" is a transverse section through the the safety razor headassembly;

Figure 4 is an end elevation otthe safety razor head assembly;

Figure 5 is a section along the line Figure 2; and

Figure 6 is a top ing member,

In carrying out my invention, I make use of a motor casing indicatedgenerally at l, and of the plan view of the reciprocat- It is possibleto standard hand size used for electric dry shavers. An electric cord 2enters the casing at its bottom and a wheel 3 projects through a slot 4,this wheel being momentarily rotated by hand to start the motor shaft 5rotating the instant the motor (not shown) is connected to a source ofcurrent. In place of the electric dry shaver head, I substitute a novelsafety razor head and base assembly.

he baseof the safety razor assembly comp es a housing 6 that has alength corresponding to the length of the top of the casing i and awidth corresponding to the width of the casing. The housing has abell-shaped top 5 opening into a channel-shaped lower portion 3. Thechannelshaped lower portion has its edges 9 designed to rest upon thetop edge ill of the casing i. The housing is secured in place by endmembers H. Each end member has laterally extending ears l2, see Figure4, that enter recesses iii in the nds of the channel portion 8. The endpieces extend down along the sides of the casing as shown in Figure 2',and have openings for receiving screws 14, these screws being threadedinto nuts l5, counted in the casing i. In this way, the device isconnected to the casing.

The end pieces ll are held against outward movem "15 by a sleeve it thatencircles the channel portion 3. and projects a slight distance belowthe bottom of the housing 5 as shown in Figure 3. In fact, the sleeve i6telescopes slightly over the end of the casing l. The parts are securelyheld to the casing in this manner and yet they may be quickly removedtherefrom, if desired.

Within the housing 5, I mount a reciprocating member ll. member has acarriage l3 slidably. mounted in the channel 5. The carriage carriesanupper set of ball-bearings 19. It will be noted from Figure 3 that theupper set of ballbearin s i9 ride on the inner surface of thechannel-shaped member 8 and thatthe lower set of ball-bearings 2% ridein grooves 21% formed in the inner surface of the channel-shaped portion8. The lower set of ball-bearings are. arranged inltwo pairs and theball-bearings in each pair are spaced from each other by cylindricalmembers 22'. The lower set of ball-bearings not only act as an antiiricticn support forthe carriage l8, but they also hold the carriageagainst movement in a direction parallel to the motor shaft axis.

The end pieces ll carry cylindrical projections lie that extend into thecylindrical passageway iormedby the grooves 2| in thechannel-shapedmember. 8 andin. the grooves 2'3-in the carriage.

Theproje'ctions or pins lla hold the carriage against transversemovement while permitting it to move in a longitudinal direction.

The reciprocating member I! carries a tongue 24 that projects throughthe opening la in the bell 1. A base member 25 for a safety razor headhas a cup-shaped portion 25a movable over the outer end of the tongueand secured thereto by a screw 26. The base member carries a razor bladeguard 21 that may be either integral therewith or secured thereto byscrews 27a. This guard has the usual convex portion against which asafety razor blade 28 is held by means of a clamping head 29. In placeof the usual comb teeth disposed along the opposite sides of the guard,I provide cylindrical members 30 that will offer a smooth surfaceagainst which the skin may contact. The cylindrical members 30 arespaced from adjacent edges 3! and this provides longitudinal slots 32,see Figure 1, through which the cut beard and soap may pass.

The razor blade head 29 is removably secured to the blade guard 27 bypins 33 that extend through openings 34 in the blade 28 and throughopenings 35 in the blade guard 27. The pins 33 are in turn provided withopenings 36 for removably receiving a locking pin 31. 38 on the pin 3'!causes the rounded shank of the pin to pass through the openings 36 andto lock the razor head 2'9 in place. A U-shaped spring 39 extends fromthe base member 25 and is yieldingly received in a groove 40 formed inthe pin 3'.

In order to prevent water or any other liquid from gaining access to themoving parts, I provide a rubber sleeve 4! 24 and is secured thereto byany means such as a string Ma. The opposite end of the sleeve 4| ispassed over the bell-shaped end 7 of the housing 6 and the tendency ofthe sleeve to contract is sufficient to frictionally hold the sleeve inplace. It will be noted from Figure 2 that the sleeve pro- J'ects upinto the cup-shaped portion 25a and therefore the opening 1a is entirelyclosed from water.

From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device, theoperation thereof may be readily understood.

The razor blade is secured in place in the manner already described, andthe device is now ready to function. The two sets of ball-bearings I9 26are preferably packed in grease so that they will operate for anindefinite period of time without any need of attention. The motor shaft5 has aneccentric portion 5a that is received in a slot 42 formed in thebottom of the carriage IS. The rotation of the shaft 5 will cause theeccentric portion 5a to move through a circle and in turn to oscillatethe carriage l8. This oscillation is transmitted to the safety razorhead assembly through the tongue l'a' and therefore the head and andblade will oscillate or reciprocate as a unit and with respect to thecasing I. The rubber sleeve 4! permits relative movement between thebase member 25 and the housing 6 and also prevents water from enteringthe parts. A far closer and more eflicient shave is obtained by arapidly reciprocating blade. A blade may be used for a longer period oftime because of this rapid reciprocation and the skin will not be tornand scratched which usually results when a safety razor blade is moveddirectly over the skin without being reciprocated.

The device may be placed under a water faucet for cleaning after theshaving operation, without any harm resulting to the moving parts. The

that surrounds the tongue blade may be removed and dried and then againsecured in place or a new one may be substituted therefor, if desired.

In Figure 6 I show the top of the carriage l8 and it will be noted thatball bearings l8 are mounted in recesses in the top. Figure 2 shows theball bearings l8 riding on the upper inner wall of the channel shapedportion 8. The carriage is yieldingly urged in an upward direction bycoil springs 8' that are disposed between the top edge it of the casingl and the underside of the carriage.

While I have shown only the preferred form of my invention, it should beunderstood that various changes or modifications may be made within thescope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

I claim:

1. In combination, a casing adapted to be held in the hand, a housingcarried by the casing, a carriage disposed in the housing, anti-frictionmeans for supporting the carriage and permitting including a guard, ablade, and a head;

assembly including a tongue reciprocably carried and having a cup-shapedend receiving theouter end of the tongue, and a water-proof flexibleclosure enclosing the tongue and being secured to the tongue portionreceived in the cup-shaped end to make a water-tight fit with theclosure also making a water-tight fit with the an apron for protectingsecured to the tongue.

4. The combination with a motor casing; a housing rigidly securedthereto and having a guide extending a razor blade assembly rigidlysecured to and entirely supported by the member and being reciprocatedthereby; said assembly including a in the direction of the length of itscutting edges.

GEORGE E. LA CELL.

